I know from experience that difficult economic times can be devastating to non-profit budgets. Not only do regular donors cut back, clients often have trouble paying even modest fees. At board meetings around the country well-meaning committee members are using the dreaded “G word”—even if grants have never before been part of their fundraising mix. See where this is going? Whether the grant-maker of your dreams is a foundation or a government entity, it’s also looking at increased demand.

As a rule, non-profit organizations combine wonderful, inspiring missions with small pocketbooks. The gap between dream and budget can be a great source of stress and worry for all concerned. That very gap has driven many of us to sit in front of a supermarket or department store selling baked goods and raffle tickets.

Here’s why this isn’t a good idea.

Think for a moment about how you feel after going a couple of rounds with a shopping cart whose wheels have been imitating the points on a compass. After spending more than you’d hoped, stuffing almost everything back into your purse, draping a bunch of bags over your arm and opening the door with your hip you hear this:

“Ma’am, would you like to buy some…..”

Unless the ‘asker’ fills in that blank with something like “a 5-pound box of imported chocolates for $1,” my guess is, if no one you know is watching, you start wondering if you can get to the car without making eye contact.

Far fetched? No. I’m a pretty reliable donor and I confess to having that exact reaction from time-to-time.

No matter how much you like a particular cause, the “who,” “how,” “when,” and “where” of the request matters. People will give money to your cause because they know who you are (the organization) and they care about what you do. Skip the bake sale and find a way to connect with the people who share your vision.

And when they make a donation, get someone to bake them “thank you” cookies!

***

Editorial Note:We love Andrea. We think she's brilliant. We tried to get her to make an exception for Girl Scout cookie sales – adorable little girls selling treats we wait all year to buy. She wouldn't budge -- so we promise to think this over when we've finished selling our kiddos' Girl Scout cookies in a variety of what Andrea would call ‘annoying and inappropriate’ places.

The love of reading is one of the greatest gifts we can give our children and cultivate in our communities. That's why we're privileged to be supporting librarians here at VolunteerSpot. We know you can't do it on your own and rely on a small army of volunteers to staff school and community libraries. Whether you're coordinating parents and volunteers as weekly readers, literacy mentors and operations assistants, organizing library fundraisers or launching summer reading program events, VolunteerSpot's free online sign up sheets make your life a little easier!

FREE VOLUNTEER COORDINATION WEBINARS FOR LIBRARIANS:

Please join us for a free webinar and learn how VolunteerSpot can save time and make it easier for more volunteers to help. No more binders with endless signup sheets, printed excel spreadsheets, back and forth email and reminder calls. We've got a better way: simple online signups and automated reminder messages. Please check out VolunteerSpot today.

While brainstorming ideas for this column there was a request ... what are the calendar must-haves for a new year?

As I surveyed what my must-haves are, I wondered what others would put on their list.

For example:

My Family Calendar:

highlighters

colored pens

post-it notes

tape

pegs on the wall

My Business Calendar:

smart phone

access to Google Calendar

streamlined task reminders

room for notes

And, yes. I have two types of calendars.

Let me explain:

I've always based calendar systems first on "where I need to be", then on "where everyone else needs to be".

The family calendar is an inexpensive desk calendar that I hang on the wall. It records pertinent things for others in the household {Dad's shift schedule, Dr. appointments, business travel plans, athletic tournaments}. The purpose of this calendar is to keep the lines of communication open. If Pipsqueak wants to know how the upcoming weekend would work for a sleepover, the calendar can provide where the parents are.

My business calendar is formatted through the Google Calendar platform. It's my tool of choice for a few reasons ~ I can access it anywhere I can get an internet connection, I can set up calendars for each family member, I always have it with me on my smart phone & finally {most importantly} it has an easy reminder interface.

Having two calendars can be difficult for a lot of people, although in my life it has been a safety net.

Where I need to be:

When a new commitment enters my life, I first ask "do I need to be there?".

For example:

Hubby's shift schedule. No, I don't need to be at work with him, however, I do need to know he is on shift and I'm in charge of transporting kiddos that day. So, while I note on the family calendar his commitment to work, I also note on the electronic calendar that he is unavailable that day.

On the other hand, when the Pipsqueak walks in with a practice schedule I survey the days I'll be on chauffeur duty ~ make necessary notes in my calendar and then post his responsibilities on the family calendar.

Where everyone else needs to be:

By posting on the family calendar his schedule this gives me the information I'll need to schedule things like doctor appointments or trips to see extended family.

Yes, it would be so much easier if I could bring everyone to the electronic world I live in. And I have created calendars for each of them in the Google platform. But it's important to note, I've created a system that works for me, now I also have to function in a system that works for them.

Making the time to manage the family calendar {highlighting shift days, marking recycle days with an orange pen} is critical to the communication and flow of our rhythm, but it has literally taken years of tweaking to get it down. That said, every once in awhile there is yet another thing that needs a slight tweak.

Here's my question to you:

What is working in your calendar system?

What needs a slight adjustment?

How do you keep the lines of communication open with those you spend your days with?

Keepin' it Tidy,

April﻿

***

April is a Mental Clutter Expert | Mom of 2 boys | Wife to 1 Fireman | Horrible Cook | Loyal Friend | National Public Speaker who gives you permission to be imperfect

Here at VolunteerSpot we are watching the icicles and shivering in our coats today and we can't wait for summer. We’re not the only ones, swim moms (and dads) across the country are preparing for spring and summer swim leagues – each year thousands of new kids join in the sport, learn their basic strokes and start competing against their best times.

But unlike many wonderful activities of parenting, just dropping off and picking up is not an option. Swim meets are like county fairs with speedos -- so many activities, so many starts and stops, so many little pods of children that need to be sheparded throughout the event -- swim teams and meets require scores of parents to fulfill many critical roles. Swim team parents and swim team volunteers must fill spots as race timers, age group parents, even people to manage the snack bar. Often, it's not just at meets that parent volunteers are needed, but during practices and for fundraisers and socials as well.

One veteran parent talked about volunteer coordination task at her swim club.

"Some years, there is a parent’s committee that keeps an eye out to make sure that all the parents pull their weight. But some years, the parent’s committee gets overwhelmed and doesn't coordinate the volunteers -- half of us end up working like crazy the whole season and the other half just sort of hide out and hope no one notices them!"

VolunteerSpot salutes the hard work of the parent coordinators trying to get everyone where they need to be. Just a question though -- would it be okay if it were like 10 (maybe 20) times easier? Thought so! Just look at what VolunteerSpot can do for your club this season (for FREE):

Easily set up meet calendars, establish all the jobs and number of volunteers needed.

Once one meet and all its volunteer jobs are set up, this can be copied for all the other meet dates in the season -- simply change the meet name and location all the jobs copy over with a simple point and click copy function.

Put a link on your club website or facebook page, or email team parents (once you do this, you can send email updates to them all season) and ask them to choose a minimum number of shifts.

Coordinators can easily track parent hours and assignments and can then bug only those parents who are slacking!! or send a special thank you to those who have already picked up shifts!! or any other communication.

2 days before the meet, VolunteerSpot automatically emails everyone to remind them of their assignment.

Coordinators can print out an assignment list from VolunteerSpot to have hard copies on hand at the meet to remind everyone who's handling what that day. (Or, if you’re pool is wireless, you can check the day’s roster via an iPad.)

Here's to a great swim season and to teams all over making their volunteering easier with VolunteerSpot. You can take a live demo of a swim team volunteer sign up and experience how easy it is for parents to pick their spots – click “try a live demo” on our homepage.

Healing comes in many ways. LifeStriders is a non-profit organization that provides life-enhancing, physical and psychological experiences and services, to individuals with special needs. Through Equine-Assisted Therapy, children and adults can experience the beneficial physical and mental benefits achieved through the human-horse connection.

Today, our Volunteer Spotlight shines on Robert Conley, president of Lifestriders. They use VolunteerSpot to coordinate over 140 weekly volunteers.

Please tell us about Lifestriders and your volunteer needs.

Our organization is an equestrian therapeutic riding center that requires three volunteers per rider for every class. We give about 12 classes per week with four riders in every class for 26 weeks, which comes to approximately 1000 lessons. That's 144 volunteer hours/week. We also offer programming in social skills that requires four volunteers per hour and we have an at-risk youth program designed to foster at-risk youth volunteering in the community. Volunteers usually come out for two or three consecutive hours according to what works best for their schedule. Needless to say, tracking and managing all of the volunteers is one of our biggest challenges.

How did you become a volunteer leader?

Veronica Sosa and I started LifeStriders therapeutic riding center six years ago and grew the need organically.

What’s one piece of advice you have for volunteers or their leaders out there?

Get VolunteerSpot and communicate with your volunteers often.

Why did you decide to use VolunteerSpot?

It simply saves us a lot of time. In the last six years we have evaluated many tools and workflows to try and manage this "army", but none have addressed our needs the way VolunteerSpot was able to. We were looking for a system that:

Would be easy for a coordinator to learn, set up, and administrate

Shows how many volunteers were signed up for any given day / event

Allows volunteers to easily manage their own schedule with minimal account setup and login

Notified us if a volunteer cancelled within 48 hrs of their scheduled time slot

Sends out reminder emails 48 hrs ahead of scheduled time slots

Allowed a volunteer coordinator to see all the volunteers for a specific day

Messages a filtered group of volunteers

NONE of the systems on the market today do this as well as VolunteerSpot, and while others may have a similar feature set, what sets VolunteerSpot apart are the efficient workflows with dynamic interfaces to accomplish all of these tasks. All of this translates to massive time savings in the setup and administration of the software and in the task of volunteer coordination. I don't think any other current system can come close to satisfying our needs in these ways for years, unless they scrap their current workflows and interfaces and start from scratch. I would highly recommend VolunteerSpot to anyone trying to manage the volunteers at a therapeutic riding center.

Anything else you’d like our readers to know about your organization or volunteering?

Volunteering at a therapeutic riding center is one of the most enlightening experiences you can have. Find your local therapeutic riding center and sign up to help out in any way you can. You will not be sorry.

We salute Robert and all the volunteer leaders working to help others. If you're using VolunteerSpot, write and tell us about what you're doing, and give us a chance to shine our Volunteer Spotlight on you!! Just email us at VS@volunteerspot.com.

VolunteerSpot is committed to helping you build your community and celebrate your service, from humble to bold. We know you help at school, run Girl Scout cookie booths, organize soccer snacks. We're here to help schedule volunteers from everything including nonprofit fundraisers, organizing a building project to serving in your community pantry.

Our blog shares best-practices and inspiring stories from everyday heroes in the field – volunteers, parents and teachers. However you’re inclined to pitch in and give back - 2011 will be a year dedicated to sharing your stories and tips for making it easier to do good.

Today Americans join together to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and celebrate his legacy through service. On this special day, please consider volunteering in your community or giving back in a less structured way − helping neighbors in need, or in the words of the late Coretta Scott King, “sharing individual acts of kindness”.

Learn more about the National Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service, here.

The Sunday Supper project is built on the philosophy of Dr. King, in the belief that issues, no matter how widespread, can be dealt with through communication and common understanding of community problems.

Sunday Supper encourages this sort of neighborly discourse by asking you and your community members to come together over dinner to talk over topics concerning the neighborhood.

Who Can Participate? And How?

Anyone can join in! And just about any location can be registered as a Supper Site, anywhere from a local restaraunt to your own kitchen table. Invite your friends, neighbors, and make sure to bring in new people that you've always meant to talk to, but have never had the chance. This is a time to listen to new ideas and have an honest conversation with people you might not otherwise.

"The good neighbor looks beyond the external accidents and discerns those inner qualities that make all men human and, therefore, brothers."

Here we are, smack dab in the middle of January. The prediction is, you've already failed at any New Year's Resolutions you set out to conquer.

Why?

Habits.

To say you want to achieve a goal is wonderful, to say you want to change the way you've done something is a lifestyle adjustment.

In order to determine what you're facing take a look around your space. What do you see?

More than likely you're faced with last year.

Last year's projects

Last year's intentions

Last year's stuff.

The new calendar year represents a fresh slate in so many ways ~ we physically change the calendar on the wall. But what do you do with all the things still hanging around from last year?

Just as you recycle that calendar, it may be time to recycle some of the rollover.

Determine what is active right now

Begin separating out leftovers

like old business cards

completed projects that never quite made it to a filing system

expired opportunities

Schedule a date with last year

For example: sit down with your favorite beverage and a stack of old business cards

Sort what you find according to their purpose:

what can be recycled?

add to a contact list

follow up for future project work

Take action

Consider evaluating

"How did that happen?"

Are you discovering projects from last school year and realizing they were never "put away"? Was the end of school and start of summer break both exhilarating and exhausting? Could it be you weren't mentally available at the time to focus on necessary tasks? Before you knew it, half the summer was gone and you were preparing for the big family reunion? Darn, who has time to deal with paperwork when there is so much fun to be had?

"What could you have done differently?"

Try giving yourself permission to take a break from decision making during transition time {completing one project or event, picking up the next thing on the priority list}. Having a date with last year can easily become a part of your project management. It just becomes having a date at the end of each project. Once a mental vacation is accomplished {sometimes a few days, sometimes a few weeks} come back to the loose ends. Then take the steps mentioned above for the date.

The likelihood you'll add this process to the end of a system you already have in place is much more realistic than saying "My New Year's Resolution is to stop having so many piles of old stuff lying around!"

Part of adjusting your lifestyle habits is to check in every so often and ask yourself "is this where I want to be?". If the answer is yes, continue on as usual. If the answer is no, stop and consider "what needs adjusting?". Then of course, tweak it and move forward.

Being a president or committee chair for a professional association, parent-school organization or community group is a very rewarding leadership experience. It’s also very demanding and takes communication and delegation skills, political savvy and a dose of moxie! Today, Shonali Burke, a public relations pro, gives a shout to future volunteer leaders and shares her personal lessons learned from her term as the president of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC/DC Metro).

If you’re going to maintain the respect of your peers, you’re going to have to prove, every day of your term, that you deserve to be in that position, paid or not.

2. Additional visibility comes with additional sensitivity.

One of the things I was proud of this year was that we managed to get a monthly e-newsletter back on track.

It didn’t always go out on time (for me, that meant during the first week of the month), but it did go out every month.

Since the articles were contributed by different people, some of whom were not on the board, I asked my editor to link to everyone’s websites/blogs as a way of saying “thank you.”

Imagine my surprise when I received a note from a long-time member berating me on taking “unfair advantage” of my position by “promoting” my business… because my signature linked to my business site.

(As did everyone else’s, I might add.)

I was stunned. When I asked some of my board members if they thought I was doing this, they essentially rolled their eyes.

Thank you, Board!

Interestingly enough, this note came from someone who had just started up a consulting business. Hmm.

Still, I didn’t want anyone to think I was using the chapter unfairly, so from then on, we changed signature links to “mail to” links.

When you’re in a position of increased visibility, you’re also in a position of increased sensitivity. The best way to roll with it is to err on the side of caution.

3. Different strokes for different folks

I know we’re all supposed to love each other, and say everyone’s always doing a marvelous job and all that jazz.

Nice in principle, but just like real life, some people work harder than others.

Some pay attention to the established processes and systems, and some don’t.

Some have outsize personalities and are vocal about their opinions, and some don’t/aren’t.

The important thing is to be able to look beyond all this, just as you would in your day job, and try to get to the end goal.

It takes diplomacy and a lot of deep breathing to keep a varied cast of characters – none of whom are being paid – motivated and working together. Trust me on the deep breathing.

When faced with conflict or differing opinions, acknowledge the issue, get everyone’s input, treat everyone with respect… and make decisions not based on personality, but on what’s best for your organization.

Listen up all you Not For Profit (NFP) staff, managers and directors; it’s truth time!

Have you ever looked at the clutter and mess in your ‘shop’ and said, “Oh well, – they’re volunteers,” or “If we were paid more we could hire someone to pick up on those typos ahead of time?”

If so, it’s time to clean up your act – for good.

I have had the opportunity to work closely with both struggling non-profits and highly successful entrepreneurs looking for ways to support the causes they care about. Many of these donors have told me things non-profit directors don’t often hear about.

For example, did you know that your agency’s un-swept front porch, piles of files, lousy website or dirty windows may be keeping your big donors away?

Don’t get me wrong… I’m not talking about the dirty dishes after serving the hot lunch or the happy chaos that’s left when your clients have been expressing their artistic sides. It’s other, simple things: dead plants, ancient magazines, overflowing trashcans or handprints on the doorframes.

Feeling relieved because none of this applies to you? Don’t get too comfy yet.

What does your personal workspace look like? When ‘company’ comes, do you have to clear off a chair for them? How are you with deadlines? Is your reporting on time? What about staff performance reviews? Who proofreads your publications?

By now, you may have a familiar soundtrack playing in your head: “We don’t have the staff…. We can’t afford … The budget was cut…. People don’t care… It doesn’t matter because we’re helping the xyz’s…. blah, blah, blah, blah.”

Like it or not, your non-profit is a business and people evaluate businesses based on both what they do and how they do it. If you’ve ever walked by the open back door of a restaurant and decided to have your lunch somewhere else you know exactly what I’m talking about! We all feel better and more confident when the professional we’re dealing with looks the part. Clean and neat imply added competence… and it doesn’t cost a dime.

If the ‘mess’ that I’m describing doesn’t exist in your NFP business, congratulations! But please, take one more careful look. Make sure it’s not such an entrenched part of your agency’s environment that you’ve stopped noticing.

It’s a great time of year to make a fresh, clean, more professional start to your NFP year. Here’s to a year of Doing Good!

The Warped Tour rewards the most environmentally friendly bands, crew and sponsors with an eco-adventure. In 2007, I was working on the thetruth.com tour and won the trip for some of the programs I created at my sponsor set up.They invited me back in 2008 to assist Erin Gorski in running the eco-program. I took it over in 2009. For the rest of that year, I worked on similar events and projects including The Country Throwdown tour (I successfully taught Montgomery Gentry to recycle!) and The Harvest of Hope festival.

What’s one piece of advice you have for volunteers or their leaders out there?

Don't get burnt out. Know that while you can't fix everything, as my dear friend Phillipe likes to say, "everything you do makes a difference".

Why did you decide to use VolunteerSpot?

The person who had my job previously spent months coordinating volunteers, creating spreadsheets, sending reminders and follow up emails, etc. I did not have the patience and knew there had to be an easier way. I literally spent days trying out every free trial of volunteer coordination software I could locate. I'm not joking when I say I tried dozens. I happened on VolunteerSpot during the Beta phase and it was exactly what we needed. The ability to export volunteer lists with contact information, simple navigation, and the ability to manage volunteers easily, including easy sign up links. It's the best volunteer organizing platform that exists. Over the past two years it has saved me hundreds of hours of work.

Anything else you’d like our readers to know?

Not to brag, but our bands,crew, volunteers and fans diverted over 30,000 lbs of recyclables (on average over 700 lbs a day) from landfills this year. In addition, we are currently working with the producers of The Cove encouraging more pressure on the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums to help stop the dolphin slaughter in Japan. The petition will be delivered to the president in November. Tell five friends.

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For more information about creating sustainable events, greening your business, or reducing your impact on the environment, please contact: warpedecotara@gmail.com

We salute Tara and all the other activists out there trying to make a difference. If you're using VolunteerSpot, write and tell us about what you're doing and give us a chance to shine our Volunteer Spotlight on you!! Just email us at VS@volunteerspot.com.

Just like at the end of the school year, when teachers wrap up grades and organize their notes for the student to take onto the next level, the new calendar year can be a wonderful benchmark for review as well.

If you were to "grade" yourself for 2010, how would your report card look?

Did you set goals for the year?

Was it a year of improvement in a hobby or a sport?

Did you vow to say "NO" more?

Was there a focused effort on timeliness?

Did you complete a large project?

How did you do? Reflecting on what you've accomplished and whether you'd award a passing grade or feel you failed miserably is a great starting point for moving forward.

With things you're proud of improving, evaluate what effort went into that adjustment. Determine if you can shift some of the things you've learned from last year's effort over to things you're still finding a challenge.

Reward yourself for a job well done. We tend to beat ourselves up when we reflect. Choosing to find the negative. What is that all about?

I hereby give you permission to pat yourself on the back for things that went well in 2010. I also give you permission to forgive yourself for things that didn't go quite as planned.

Looking forward to 2011, ask yourself if you have a plan, a goal or a certain intention. What is it?

Mine is the same that it has been for the past few years. Take care of myself. I have to say, last year I would have received an A. Sure there were months I did better than others, but overall, I returned to what I set as most important as an overall goal for the year.

Make sure to take some time to consider how you stood in your own way as well. I know for a fact how I did this. I was asked to speak at an international conference and I chose to turn it down. Yes, it was kind of a big deal. At the moment of the decision though, my family's needs were a bigger deal. {It would have been right in the thick of back-to-school!} So, that international speaking career was put on hold for a little longer. And because my intention was to take care of myself, I really was OK with it.

So, now it's your turn:

What worked in 2010?

What needs improvement?

What will you continue working on in an effort to improve something else?

What is your plan, goal or intention for 2011?

If de-cluttering pops up on your 2011 "things to improve", be sure to hop on over to the 31 Days of Organizing Tips happening over on The Mental Clutter Coach during the month of January.

Then, meet me back here next week when we'll take a look at why New Year's Resolutions fall apart {and why this post had nothing to do with Resolutions!}

Thanks for tuning in!

Keepin' it Tidy,

April

***

April is a Mental Clutter Expert | Mom of 2 boys | Wife to 1 Fireman | Horrible Cook | Loyal Friend | National Public Speaker who gives you permission to be imperfect

Everyone here at VolunteerSpot wishes you a Happy and Service-Filled New Year!!

VolunteerSpot exists to serve people in their quests to improve their communities and we wanted to acknowledge that fact by thanking all of our volunteers and recognizing the excellent work they do every day. Below is just a sampling of the numerous and varied people that use VolunteerSpot as a tool to help them coordinate volunteers, whatever the job may be. From room moms to non-profit leaders, these good people are working to make a difference in their communities and their world.

We hope you're inspired by their stories and moved to serve your communities and share your good work in 2011!